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Baking + Sweet, Bread, Breakfast, Pancakes, Recipes, Special Diets, Vegetarian
January 12, 2025

How to Use Leftover Sourdough Starter

5 | 11 reviews

This is not my most beautiful blog post, but I am so over people telling me that the only way to use my sourdough starter discard is to whip up a huge batch of pancakes/dough that uses even more flour! Simply untrue, you can use just the leftover starter and add only a few things…

Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 minutes mins
Course Bread, Breakfast, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine American
Jump to Recipe
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This is not my most beautiful blog post, but I am so over people telling me that the only way to use my sourdough starter discard is to whip up a huge batch of pancakes/dough that uses even more flour! Simply untrue, you can use just the leftover starter and add only a few things to make this really delicious, cheesy, sourdough pancake-hybrid that I make for breakfast every day I am feeding my starter.

This recipe uses a few tricks to make your sourdough discard less potent (it can get sour) and also more fluffy. If you are looking for how to use your sourdough discard, I hope this recipe is helpful!

Single-Serve Sourdough Discard Pancake

5 | 11 reviews
This is a savory pancake, but you can absolute skip the cheese to make it sweet! It griddles up like a dream and is so supremely fluffy.
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Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 minutes mins
Servings: 1 serving
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Equipment

  • 1 small skillet

Ingredients

  • 100 grams sourdough starter discard
  • 1 tablespoon milk of choice
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon salted butter, for greasing the pan
  • 1 ounce white cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions 

  1. Whisk together the sourdough discard with 1 tablespoon of milk, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
  2. Set a small or medium sauté pan over medium heat and add 1/2 tablespoon of butter to grease the pan. Pour in the batter into one thick pancake.
  3. Immediately sprinkle the cheese on top of the pancake while the batter is wet, so it will melt in.
  4. Flip the pancake when it is golden brown on the bottom. Cook another 2 minutes or until the cheese is golden and crisp.
  5. Serve warm! I like to put avocado or eggs on this, or use it anyway I would a crepe or slice of sourdough toast!

Hey! I’m Justine

A recipe developer, highly dedicated eater, and bread enthusiast with an archive of both savory and sweet.

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Comments

  1. Katherine Avatar
    Katherine
    1/12/2025
    Reply

    Ohh, I wonder how cottage cheese would work in this. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    1. Justine Avatar
      Justine
      1/12/2025
      Reply

      Ooooo that sounds delicious! I think that would work wonderfully!

      Reply
  2. Jill Avatar
    Jill
    1/13/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    I love to minimize waste and this is such an easy & tasty way to do it! Thank you for this simple recipe!

    Reply
  3. Jennifer Bachhuber Avatar
    Jennifer Bachhuber
    1/14/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    This is the perfect way to have a great lunch when you feed your starter! So delicious.

    Reply
  4. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine
    1/14/2025
    Reply

    Without thinking I accidentally used baking soda instead of powder!!! Still turned out great (so much bubbling). I will definitely be using this frequently, my toddler and I split it with some scrambled eggs for lunch. I’d say you could use whatever cheese you have in the fridge (we had leftover grated mozzarella from a pizza night last week).

    Reply
  5. Karen Avatar
    Karen
    1/14/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    Oh my! Made one of these today. Stuffed in full of my Tofu-veggie scramble and topped it with my homemade sauerkraut.

    I bet it would be great to add fresh herbs!

    Absolute heaven. Thanks so much!!!

    Reply
  6. Sharon Avatar
    Sharon
    1/14/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    This is great and so easy to use up sourdough discard.. thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  7. Olivia Avatar
    Olivia
    1/15/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    This was delicious and so so easy to make! Please make this a series!!

    Reply
  8. Natalie D Avatar
    Natalie D
    1/15/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    This is amazing!!! I added green onions with the cheese. Finding myself feeding my starter for no other reason than to make this….

    Reply
  9. Niamh Avatar
    Niamh
    1/16/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    Really loved this! We hosted a wine and cheese night recently so crumbled a mix of hard cheeses in- suuuper good I usually make kimchi pancakes with my discard- makes a great sour pancake full of probiotics! This will definitely join my rotation for discard uses now.

    Reply
  10. Arden Avatar
    Arden
    1/16/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    Immediate new fave! This morning I treated it a bit like lefse and had it with cold salmon and plain yogurt and it was SO good. I feel like this will be so versatile.

    Reply
  11. Charlotte.crawford10@gmail.com Avatar
    [email protected]
    1/16/2025
    Reply

    I’m going to have to experiment with this, mine was more doughy than supremely fluffy. Flavor and concept 10/10, I need to dial it in on texture. Maybe my skillet wasn’t hot enough?

    Reply
    1. Justine Avatar
      Justine
      1/19/2025
      Reply

      It could also be your baking powder! I doubt it’s expired but that’s a key part to the fluffiness! But yes for the best texture, make sure your skillet is on medium heat, if not a bit higher!

      Reply
  12. Sam Avatar
    Sam
    1/18/2025
    Reply

    Personally, I love this so much. I try to not waste my discard and this is a great way to use it. I’ll definitely be passing this on! I added chili flakes, used whole milk mozzarella and felt the essence of pizza coming through. Enjoyed with a salad and… perfection.

    Reply
    1. Justine Avatar
      Justine
      1/19/2025
      Reply

      So SO glad you liked it!

      Reply
  13. SB Avatar
    SB
    1/20/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    I was feeding my started for a country loaf this morning and remembered that you had posted an IG reel for this recipe. I had just under 100g of discard, no cheddar (but leftover mozz), and it still was perfect! Absolutely delicious!

    Reply
  14. Kayla Avatar
    Kayla
    1/21/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    This was absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe! This is going on my regular routine! Can’t wait to check the rest of your stuff out! This was recommended when I was looking for easy discard recipes.

    Reply
  15. Jenna Avatar
    Jenna
    1/22/2025
    Reply

    5 stars
    My new fave way to use discard, toddler approved too!

    Reply

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Hey! I’m Justine

A recipe developer, highly dedicated eater, and bread enthusiast with an archive of both savory and sweet.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest
  • X
More About Me

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